The Rolling Stones have issued a news release saying that their current tour had "out-grossed this year's record-breaking Pink Floyd tour" as well as their own Steel Wheels tour in 1989, the previous record-holder for the highest grossing North American tour.
But while the current Rolling Stones tour may be on its way to breaking the record, it hasn't yet topped Pink Floyd's gross, which is around $104 million."According to our statistics, the Rolling Stones tour has grossed $50 million so far," said Bob Grossweiner, the New York bureau chief of Performance magazine, a concert-industry journal. "Until the tour completes more shows, no one will know what records they've broken. They are talking about advance sales, but what if a member gets sick and they have to cancel shows?"
This scenario is hardly out of the question. The Eagles have postponed the rest of their tour and Crosby, Stills and Nash canceled the remainder of theirs because band members were ill.
A spokeswoman for the Rolling Stones did admit that issuing the news release was a way to counter reports that concert tickets have been selling slowly in some cities, but she said that she stood by the release's claim.